Month: July 2012

I just wanted to comment that 15 years ago, i used a Hartz flea product on my pair of cats on a Saturday evening & lucky for us, we had an Emergency Vet around the corner from us, that saved both their lives. It is IMPERATIVE that an anti poison be given to the animal who has ingested this crap, by a Vet, as soon as possible.
It is so sad to see all these years later, these products still on the shelves. The Vet told me they are constantly threatened with lawsuits if they speak badly of Hartz.

I’ll start with saying I wish I would have found this site years ago!!! My story starts when I was 20 years old and had just moved into my first apartment on my own. I had a Yorkie so I made sure to find a apartment where pets were allowed. After a few weeks of living there my dog was infested with fleas. And when I say infested I mean when I flipped her over on her back you could watch them crawling on her. I was consently bathing her and she couldn’t get rid of them nor did she have previous fleas before we moved in. I went to Walmart and bought Hartz flea and tick shampoo not knowing any better. I used it off and on for probababy a year without any major health concerns. Only problem she had was her skin would get really dry and she would scratch her belly raw until she had a sore. Finally, one day I was going to give her a bath and after I was finished blow drying her and got everything cleaned up I heard her not even an hour later breathing in the next room. I really didn’t think much of it at first but a few minutes later I decided to check on her. When I walked into my bedroom I found her panting or gasping for air laying on her side with her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth. I felt her and she was burning up like she had a fevEr she also was lethargic and really wouldn’t respond she just layes there

I have one thing to say never use this product, my mom bought it at walmart thinking she would save a couple bucks and all thanks to them they are dead. We put them on about 4 to 5 hours later Picasso was the first she was walking funny like dizzy like then Ralph was throwing up we called the vet imminently but it was after hours so we had to drive a hour and a half to get there. We were about to leave then Polly passed out we had to bring 3 in the other ones were fine they had to pit them down because the seizers were so bad they gave them something to help it didn’t help..snuggle bug didnt make itwhen we got home Betsy and mittsey were shaking and having siezers and Betsy waited until we got home and kissed my mom on the arm right after her seizure She died in her arms.. We have one cat left he seemed fine I hope he stays that way. My dog is fine. Never use these products. My mom will never forgive herself they were the best cats ever. Rip Picasso Polly Betsy snuggle bug baby girl Ralph and mittsey.. We all loved you so very much.

I have worked at a vet clinic for many years, and have always known that Hartz & Seargeants products were dangerous, but recently have seen some unmistakable incidents that were directly related to these products. In the first instance, a cat was brought in from having seizures all night. The connection was made that all the owner did was bath her dog in Hartz flea & tick shampoo the day before. The cat’s contact with the dog was enough to send the kitty into seizures for several hours, luckily he pulled through, but just barely. Another incident involved a dog whose legs were so raw and irritated that she could barely walk on 2 of them, again, the culprit was found to be the Flea and Tick Shampoo… This is dangerous stuff, people! Please do not use any of these products on your pet. It may cost a little more to get the stuff from your vet, but it’s better than throwing your money away on products that don’t work, and you will have the peace of mind that your furbabies are using a safe product. That alone to me, is worth any cost!

I bought Hartz Cat Flea drops for the first time this past weekend and applied them on Monday to both of my cats. My larger boy, Tidus, is just fine but my little girl began to develop a skin irritation almost immediately. I washed it off with a mild soap but I could still see the burn marks. I treated them and made an appt for the Vet for today, July 7th. She began to hide in boxes and dark places and was scared of everything. She would not eat or drink unless I set her in front of her food. I took her into the Vet this morning and she was flushed with Glycopyrrolate and given a reversal antibiotic, along with Clavomox for the skin irritation. I found this website a little while ago and see how many cats have been lost to Hartz products. Lulu is now asleep and I am praying for her recovery. Has anyone elses cat been treated with Glycopyrrolate? Have any cats recovered from these symptoms? I have been reading stories of deaths and want to know if my Lulu has any hope.

For the past couple of days I have been drowning my house in the product. I recently just discovered that my furry friend has flees. Not only has this product not worked for me, I’ve spent at least 50$ on there products just within a few days, but none of the products have worked. On top of it my dog has been sleeping for days and I’m wondering what’s going on? I’m very thankful for this website. I’m going to make this as well known as possible, I just e-mailed the greedy company letting them know how disgusting this is. Does anyone know how they are getting away with this?

I treated our cat,Gretel, a very active and healthy 1 year old, with Hartz Ultraguard Plus Flea Spray and also treated her with the spot treatment Ultraguard Pro. Within 4 days she was acting lethargic and “stoned” . I took her to the vet the next day. They bathed her, gave her fluids, cortisone, antibiotics and (believe it or not) another dose of Flea control. I picked her up after 3 days there. Within 3 more she could not walk at all. I went back to the vet, they gave her more fluids and I brought her home. Over the next 6 days she got weaker, finally having 2 major seizures yesterday evening. Over night her breathing became more troubled. She died this morning about 8:30. Her weight went from a healthy 11 pounds to 6.6 pounds in 2 weeks. I was feeding her by syringe (water, vitamins, broth) for the last week of her life.
The active ingredients of these treatments are S-methoprene and an organophospate (Tetrachlorvinphos) in the same family as Sarin poison. These are both neurotoxins that that are designed to affect the nervous systems of insects and , sadly, any animals or humans that contact them. In fact, organophosphates are the leading cause of accidental poisoning in the world and is suspected of connections to numerous child and adult conditions in humans.
The labeling on the bottle might as well be non-existent. The warning is printed under a flap on the bottle that is virtually impossible to peel back… and the font is so small you can barely see it. Further, they give NO indication as to how lethal their product can be.
This product NEEDS to be in a box with a fully printed instruction sheet with warnings as to the dangerous poison it contains, with FULL disclosure as to the side effects, symptoms of overdose, etc… It also needs to contain information on an antidote.
I think it is criminal for a company to market such a dangerous product without any consideration to the damage it can do to animals, but also to people who may contact it.

It obviously does not take much to cause a severe and irreversible reaction!

TREATMENT AND ANTIDOTE: I searched high and low to find something I could do to help my friend. If you get your pet to the vet soon enough, a shot of Atropine MAY help (according to the literature). After that the symptoms will progress as outlined above. In humans it is possible to arrest the onset, but once the damage is done, it is not reversible. In pets I think the treatment is not available. The vets (I went to a second for another opinion) were somewhat stymied. Her reflexes were fine, she looked not too bad and was fairly alert with moments of disorientation. Even on her last day she was fairly aware of things. Her blood panel was pretty normal, with a low red cell count (we ascribed to the fleas). The damage of this poison is to the nerves. It affects their ability to transmit and eventually the victim dies.

I was unable to find anything more on possible treatments. Please, if someone knows more than me, add it to the website.

I recently moved into a mobile home that used to belong to my sister-in-law. She didn’t have her dogs on any structured flea treatment and when they moved out the fleas stayed behind. The trailer was completely infested when we moved in and I refused to move our 2 cats in until the place had been bombed. After it seemed like the problem had been resolved, I brought the cats in. I noticed that they were beginning to scratch a little more often than usual, and within the last two months the problem has gotten completely out of hand. I believe it was partially due to a litter of orphan kittens we found outside and kept in the house until they were big enough to find homes. The runt of the litter had fleas so bad that ultimately I think they were a big factor in her death. I went to Target and bought cheap flea drops for both of them, I’m now ashamed to say. I’m pretty sure they were Hartz brand, but I’m not 100% positive. I remember they came in a white and purple box. I applied the medicine to my 3 year old tabby Geneva first, and may have missed the center of her shoulder blades by a centimeter or less but it still seemed like it was out of her reach. Next I applied it to our 2 year old orange tabby Kiki. I went to check on Geneva and she made a disgusted face and ran from me and I could tell that she must have somehow ingested some. I chased her around my son’s bedroom and finally she stopped and crawled under the covers on his bed. I approached her and pulled the covers back to find she was foaming at the mouth and there was a pile of foam on the sheets. I freaked and rushed her to the 24 hour animal emergency room where they determined she was fine except for a strange fever and gave her a bath to wash off any remnants of the flea drops. The vet told me that when they bathed her she was covered in fleas, especially around her face. Our other cat Kiki had no problem with the medication. It has been about a month since their treatment and I have noticed that Geneva is beginning to look unhealthy. She scratches furiously all the time, she’s losing weight and the fur around her neck has become short, thin and coarse. I couldn’t take seeing her in such misery any longer and about an hour ago I bathed her in Sergeant’s Gold Flea & Tick Shampoo for Cats and Kittens. I’ve never bathed a full grown cat before and doing it by myself I found to be extremely difficult. I’m not even sure I used the best method, I just did the best I could. As was rinsing the shampoo out of her fur I was shocked by just how bad her flea infestation was. They were crawling into her eyes nose and mouth and I tried to pick off as many as I could, crying as she looked up at me soaking wet and completely pathetic. I dried her as much as she would allow before she finally escaped from me and hid but she was still a little damp and won’t stop licking herself. Her demeanor seems to have improved actually, but I looked around online to make sure her licking herself wouldn’t harm her. I was alarmed and disgusted when I discovered just how dangerous the Hartz and Sergeant’s products are. Several people talked about waking up the next day after bathing their cats with the product to find them vomiting blood and other horrible things. Now I am absolutely terrified that I may not have rinsed it all out and that she is going to get hurt. This cat is my angel! Should I wash it off or take her to the vet? She seems happier and is itching less but I don’t want to take a chance. What should I do???